This activity demonstrates one of the many ways Sketchpad can be used in a calculus or math analysis class. Students manipulate a tangent line to a curve to investigate what it means for a curve to have slope. They explore the first derivative as a function which determines the slope of the curve for different values of x and express the derivative as a limit statement.

This material is based upon work supported by the
National Science Foundation under Grant DUE-0226284.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations
expressed in this material are those of the author(s)
and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
National Science Foundation.